Risen
by May a Chance
Summary: Mortals would tell you I broke out on my own, that I was always alone but in truth, the only time I can remember being lonely was when I first woke up.


**Disclaimer: I do not own this amazing franchise that has come to be known as Rise of the Guardians. All rights go to William Joyce (original author), his publishing company (whom he likely sold the rights to) and DreamWorks Animation Studio (the producers of the movie). This story is written purely for my own entertainment and has nothing to do with profit or recognition. "I write what I want to write, I write what amuses me, it's totally for myself."- J.K. Rowling**

* * *

The first thing I remember was the cold; it was so cold I could feel the frozen water surrounding me like a harsh blanket. My first thought was 'It must be winter,' and why, I don't know. I should have been scared out of my mind at being surrounding and cocooned in ice, but I wasn't. Somehow, instinctively, I knew that I was in my element and that with my element came the good graces of Mother Nature.

My name is Jack Frost. I have no memories before waking up in the cold. So how do I know my name, you may ask? It's simple; the Moon told me so. Well, not really. The Man in the Moon told my mother who told me.

The first thing I remember after having thought that it must have been winter was hearing the crackling of ice shifting and breaking, followed by a cool and soothing glow of light. To any other, she would have looked warm and gentle, but to a Spirit of Winter, the Spirit of Winter thank you very much, she was as cool and gentle as a soft fluffy of snowflakes.

Crap, I guess all those poetry lessons have done something to me. Now I sound poetic which is not like me.

My third, or possibly fourth, memory is of hearing her voice, like a cool wind bringing fresh flurries to me. "My name is Mother Nature, young child." She sounded like all the best parts of nature in the world; the soft snow landing and the cool wind whistling and the cold ice crackling... I remember being utterly entranced by the voice that sounded like everything that I represented and everything that I ever would represent. "Can you tell me your name?"

And then I looked up and I saw her. Mother Nature was tall and thin as a branch up a tree, but also as sturdy as that branch. Her long, auburn hair tumbled down her shoulders like water flowing over stones. Her eyes were as filled with warmth as the sun. In every aspect of her being was nature; all from her flowing hair to simple dress. She was not only the beginning of nature but also the parent of nature and hence the parent of me.

As I said earlier, I'm the Spirit of Winter. And just like any nature spirit is, I'm the child of Mother Nature.

Either forth of fifth was my own shivering stammering. My teeth were chattering like there was no tomorrow, my feet chilled against the ice. "D-d-don't... r-re-remem-ember," I had managed to chatter out as I stood upon the once fully ice lake I had been trapped in. "Why?..."

I remember my chin caught in her gentle grasp, icy blue eyes meeting Mum's glowingly warm ones. And I remember her telling me to relax, that she'd explain everything soon, that it would soon make sense. I trusted her. You might laugh at how blatantly obvious that may have seemed but it wasn't; I was just a scared child in the middle of a frozen forest with a strange woman as my only company; my every instinct told me to run and to hide away forever but I couldn't do that.

Then and only then did she press something into my hands, a long piece of entwined wood like a staff though curved at the end. I accepted it gracefully as Mum led me off the lake, shivering.

I asked her who she was and why she had come to help me when I couldn't even remember who I was. So she told me. "You're Jack, dear child. You're the Winter Spirit Jack Frost." And it sounded right to me, every syllable of every word begging me to believe her. So this time, I trusted my instincts. I allowed her to sit me down like a distraught child and let her tell me about the world. Mum told me about the seasons and who protected each season. There was Autumn Sallow who had been born a medieval girl and died just the same before the Man in the Moon gave her a second chance. There was me, Jack Frost who had drowned and been accepted as winter. Then there was Bloom Raine and her twin sister April who managed the months of spring and finally Sunny Daze who was the months of summer.

Someone within my early memories, I remember Mum with an arm resting around my shoulders guiding me through the forest. It was at the edge of the forest that she rubbed my shoulder gently, offered a kind smile of encouragement before giving me a few words. "Show me what you can do," she said into the cold air.

What I can do? Never ask me that question. I'll show you my snowflakes and my flurries and my blizzards and my snow creatures and all that now, but back then I had no control over anything. My abilities near exploded around me to create a blizzard that would plague the small town of Burgress, my town, for an entire week.

I don't remember anything after that until I woke up at the Nature Court. It was there and only there that I met the other spirits.

But I backtrack a little; I woke up in the Nature Court's northeast wing within a small room that was clearly meant for a winter spirit. The walls were a pale and icy grey with patterns akin to frost painted up the walls. There were snowflakes drifting through the room so, in short, it was my version of heaven on earth. To me, it was as beautiful as a frosted tree trunk.

Crap, poetry again. Not as bad this time, thank fully.

Mum came to get me, wanting to introduce me to all of my newfound siblings. She found Bloom and April first who were both tall, thin woman with black hair braided with flowers. They both grinned and gave identical waves before moving onwards. They looked to be in their early twenties. Then it was Sunny who clapped me on the back and sent waves of heat shuddering down my spin. I know he meant well but it still hurt like holy heat. And finally there was Autumn who was like a ghost in a medieval castle. She looked to be nearing forty.

The way that mortals tell my story makes it sound like I spent my entire life alone in the wilderness with just me and my snow, but it was different. I had my mother and my siblings to spend time with.


End file.
